What is Chinese Chili Paste Made Of? Exploring the Key Ingredients

Chili paste is a seasoning that we eat most frequently in daily life. It has a spicy taste and excellent color, aroma and taste.

Whether it's for mixing noodles, mixing rice, stir-frying dishes or making dipping sauces, it can add a unique flavor to food.

What exactly is this irresistible chili paste made of? Today, let's explore it together.

What is Chinese Chili Paste?

Chinese chili paste is a kind of sauce-like condiment made by using fresh or dried chili peppers as the main material and adding ginger, garlic, vegetable oil and other ingredients as auxiliary materials, and then making it through special methods such as fermentation or non-fermentation after crushing. 

It is widely used in Chinese cuisine and can add spiciness and aroma to food.

Main Ingredients of Chili Paste

Chili paste is mainly made of peppers. There are many kinds of peppers on the market. Different kinds of peppers can bring different flavors and spiciness.

For example, 朝天椒 (Chaotianjiao) has a high spiciness level and can make chili paste very spicy; 二荆条辣椒 (Erjingtiao pepper) has a unique aroma and bright red color, which can add unique flavor and color to chili paste. There is also 小米辣 (Xiaomila), which has moderate spiciness and also has a unique flavor.

You can choose according to your tolerance for spiciness and personal preference.

Additional Ingredients of Chili Paste

Salt: Salt is used for seasoning and preservation. It can enhance the flavor of chili paste and make its taste more intense. At the same time, it can extend the shelf life.

Sugar: Sugar can add sweetness, neutralize spiciness, make the taste of chili paste more mellow.

Garlic and ginger: Garlic can add a strong garlic aroma. Ginger can remove the astringent taste of peppers. Both enhance the flavor levels and make the taste more rich and harmonious.

Vinegar: It plays a role in enhancing freshness and fragrance, making the taste more refreshing, also has a certain antiseptic function.

Liquor: It helps to sterilize and enhance fragrance, making the taste more mellow. When stored, it can also extend the shelf life.

How to make chili paste?

There are many methods for making chili paste. The most common and simple method is as follows:

Material preparation
500 grams of red peppers, 100 grams of garlic, 60 grams of salt, 30 grams of sugar, 20 milliliters of liquor, 20 milliliters of white vinegar, and an appropriate amount of cooking oil.
Production steps
1. Wash and dry the red peppers, then chop them. Peel and mince the garlic.
2. Put the chopped peppers and minced garlic into a bowl, add salt, sugar, liquor, and white vinegar and stir well.
3. Pour oil into a pan and heat it to 70% heat. Pour the stirred mixture of peppers and garlic into the pan. Simmer over low heat and stir continuously for about 15 minutes until it becomes thick and shiny.
4. After cooling, store it in a clean glass bottle and seal it for preservation.

What do you do with Chinese chili paste?

Chili paste can not only be used to mix noodles and rice, but also serve as a seasoning for dishes. It can also be mixed with other seasonings to create more flavors.
Mixing noodles or rice: Add rich spiciness and aroma to plain staple foods, improve the taste and greatly increase people's appetite.
Seasoning dishes: Adding chili paste when stir-frying, stewing or braising dishes can endow dishes with unique spiciness and rich taste levels, make the soup more rich and spicy and become more delicious.
Making snacks: Using chili paste in snacks such as jianbing guozi and fried skewers can add unique spiciness. When combined with other ingredients, the taste is more abundant.
As a dipping sauce: When having hot pot or barbecue, use it as a dipping sauce to add spiciness to ingredients and enrich the taste, making delicious food more enjoyable.
Combining with other seasonings: Mix with seasonings such as soy sauce, vinegar, mashed garlic and minced ginger to create different taste combinations. It can be used for cold dishes and dipping sauces to meet the taste needs of different people.

Is chili paste very hot?

Most Chinese chili pastes are spicy.

In Chinese food culture, chili peppers are often used to add flavor and stimulate the taste.

For example, local specialty chili pastes such as Sichuan broad-bean paste and Hunan chopped chili paste have become indispensable seasonings in local dishes with their obvious spiciness.

Of course, there are also some non-spicy chili pastes. Like sweet and spicy sauce, this kind of chili paste is mainly sweet and has a relatively low spiciness. There are also some not very spicy chili pastes used in certain dishes or eating scenarios.

For example, in cold dishes, in order to maintain the refreshing taste of the dish, slightly spicy or non-spicy chili pastes may be selected; there are also non-spicy chili pastes specially designed for children in children's food.

When everyone chooses chili paste, they need to pay attention.

If you are not very good at eating spicy food, choose low-spiciness ones like sweet and spicy sauce.

If you can accept a certain degree of spiciness, you can consider medium-spiciness ones like broad-bean paste.

If you like high spiciness, choose ones like yellow lantern chili paste. 

Does chili paste need to be refrigerated?

Unopened chili paste

Room temperature storage: If the chili paste is in sealed packaging and contains many additives, such as some bottled chili pastes sold on the market, it can usually be stored at room temperature within the shelf life. This is because additives can inhibit the growth of microorganisms. 

At the same time, sealed packaging can also effectively isolate the outside air and prevent the chili paste from oxidizing and deteriorating.

Better to refrigerate: If it is homemade chili paste, since not too many preservatives are added, it is recommended to be refrigerated in the refrigerator. 

The low-temperature environment of the refrigerator can slow down the reproduction speed of microorganisms and extend the shelf life of chili paste. Generally, it can be stored for about 1 to 3 months.

Opened chili paste

Refrigeration is advisable: Once the chili paste is opened and comes into contact with air, microorganisms are more likely to enter and multiply.

Whether it contains preservatives or not, it is best to put it in the refrigerator for refrigeration. Under refrigerated conditions, chili paste can maintain better flavor and quality. Generally, it can be stored for about 1 to 2 months.